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Choosing a UPS

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I just built a new gaming rig with :-



AMD FX 4100
ASUS M5A78 lx
CORSAIR VENGEANCE 4GB
ASUS NVIDIA 550Ti 1GB
CORSAIR CX430

I was just playing bf3 and there was some power fluctuation and my UPS couldnt take it as probably all the fans were at full speed and temp was really high.

So i was thinking to buy a new ups.


How much power do i need in my new ups ?

More about : choosing ups

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divJ said:
anything below that ? thats 200$..... even my gfx crd wasnt so expensive.. O_o


Anything below that is a firehazard for a gaming PC. You'd probably end up with the same thing happening again or worse.

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divJ said:
whats a surge protector ?? and when the lights go out.. which they do in rainy season isnt it a huge risk for the psu ?


Surge protectors protect against voltage spikes caused by environmental anomalies such as lightning strikes and transformer explosions. Most power bars have surge protectors built in and many PSUs also have surge protectors.

All UPS' also have surge protectors by design.

There's no risk to the PSU when there's a sudden loss of power, all you'll lose is any unsaved data. However, power loss can sometimes be preceded by a sudden drop in transmission line voltage (brownout) which is a safety measure to protect the electrical grid. Brownouts can do all sorts of nasty things to electrical devices including cheap power supplies. Most decent power supplies are equipped to handle brownouts and small voltage spikes but it never hurts to put another surge protector in the middle.
Homebuilt system Expert

fdumancic said:
Hi, I was wondering what's the point of running such a powerful UPS for a mid range computer?

Wouldn't a 700 VA UPS be more than enough (it can process ~400W of power), especially considering the fact divj owns a 430W PSU?


By the time you plug in a 100 watt monitor, router, modem, printer, etc... it comes to a lot more than that.

That's understandable, but again, it's important to take into account that modern LED monitors take up to 40W of power.

If divj does not plan to plug in everything related to his PC into the UPS, a 700 VA might be enough don't you think? My current PC together with monitor and speakers plugged in draws below 100W in idle, measured by a wall socket device measuring wattage. With some upgrades I expect to get around 300W while gaming, so a 700 VA (~400W) UPS should be enough?
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I'd prefer not to speculate on what he does/does-not plan to plug in. My IPS panel draws over 100 watts nominally and some old CRTs can easily draw 200 watts. I always recommend for the worst case scenario and that UPS is the newer version of the one that I have under my desk so I have it on good authority that it works great :) 
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